“Neuberger Berman, and therefore Spectra, became an investment after
the Governor’s blind trust was created in 2011. Therefore, he had no
knowledge of the investment because the decision to invest was made
by a trustee of the blind trust. Immediately upon disclosing his
assets to the public, Governor Scott placed all of his assets back
into a blind trust to ensure that there would not be the possibility
of any conflict of interest. As a result, Governor Scott has no
knowledge of the current contents of the blind trust. Governor Scott
went above and beyond to provide Floridians with transparency by
disclosing his assets and releasing tax returns for both himself and
the First Lady. Charlie Crist is still refusing to follow suit by
releasing his wife’s tax returns, which only makes us wonder what
he’s hiding.”

You know the governor is feeling the heat when the best he can do
is to try to say his opponent does it, too.

The Florida governor has been questioned about his investment in a natural gas company and his aide’s involvement in a rail project.

A few months ago, I wrote about an epidemic of fake Republican scandals
that Democrats were hyping for 2014, starting with a nothingburger of a
whatever-gate involving Florida Governor Rick Scott. My point was that
political scandals rarely get traction, and shouldnâ€™t get traction,
without a semi-plausible link to significant public policies. Let me
put it a different way: Damaging scandals look more like the two latest
messes involving Governor Scott.

The first involves Scottâ€™s support
for a controversial Miami-to-Orlando rail
project known as All Aboard Florida, when the company pushing it had financial ties to his chief of
staff. The second involves Scottâ€™s support for a
controversial natural gas pipeline to North Florida, when he owned a stake in the company building it. You
probably havenâ€™t heard about these messes, because theyâ€™re pretty
obscure. Theyâ€™re also mini-messes, especially for Scott, who was once
CEO of a hospital chain that paid a record $1.7 billion fine for fraud
committed on his watch.

What could turn these messes into scandals is their potential
link to public policiesâ€”in particular, to lame and unpopular
policies that could look even worse if Scottâ€™s probable opponent,
Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist, can frame
them as corrupt policies.

As Broward Bulldog,WFTV, and Time have reported, Rick Scott’s
financial stake in the gas pipeline project he approved raises serious
concerns about his conflict of interest. While the governor insists he
approved the pipeline without knowledge of the contents of his blind
trust, it has now become clear that he he stands to make a profit from
the construction of the pipeline.

To avoid the clearly blatant conflict of interest,
the governor must divest himself of all interests in the Sable Trail
Pipeline immediately.

“It’s been clear for years that Rick Scott’s blind
trust is anything but blind — it’s an excuse to keep Floridians
in the dark,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair
Allison Tant. “While transparent and ethically sound
decisions may seem like a foreign concept to Rick Scott, the people
of Florida expect their leaders to do the right thing and avoid blatant
conflict of interest. Floridians of all political leanings
can agree that public officials should not get richer because of the
projects they approve.”

Issue #2 came up yesterday, when Scott was accused of
personally profiting from a gas pipeline he supported.

Upon his election in
2010, Gov. Rick Scott’s transition team included a Florida Power &
Light executive who pitched his company’s plan to build a major
natural gas pipeline in North Florida to fuel a new generation of
gas-fired power plants in places like Port Everglades. […]

In May and June 2013, he signed into law two bills designed to speed
up permitting for what came to be known as the Sabal Trail
Transmission — a controversial, 474-mile natural gas pipeline
that’s to run from Alabama and Georgia to a hub in Central Florida,
south of Orlando.

Five months later, the Florida Public Service Commission, whose five
members were appointed by Scott, unanimously approved construction
of Sabal Trail as the state’s third major natural gas pipeline.

What
wasn’t known at the time is that Scott owned a stake in Spectra
Energy, which was chosen to build and operate the $3 billion
pipeline. The governor’s team insists the investment was made
through a blind trust, though there are unanswered questions about
when the shares were acquired and just how blind that trust really
is.

John Quarterman, founder of SpectraBusters,
said he thinks Florida
should pursue renewable energy sources rather than build a natural
gas pipeline.

“I’ve never heard of a set of solar panels
catching fire and burning or blowing up and throwing a pipe across a
highway or in any other way endangering people,” he said.

Seems like whoever gets quoted is called “the founder” of SpectraBusters,
although there are actually many founders.
Nevermind that: we don’t need a corrupt, dangerous, dirty fracked methane pipeline.
Solar power for the Sunshine State, the southeast, the U.S., and the world!

(Orlando, FL) — Representative Linda Stewart, Carlos Smith,
Chair of the Orange County DEC, and local environmentalists will
hold a press conference on Friday, July 25th, denouncing Governor
Rick Scott’s financial ties to the Sabal Trail pipeline, which will
carry volatile fracked gas near cities and ecologically sensitive
areas.

For the second time this year, it has been uncovered that Rick Scott
has a stake in a company with hazardous environmental plans in
Florida. A recent investigation revealed that Scott had a $53,000
stake in Spectra, the company set to build a dangerous pipeline that
runs from southern Georgia to south of Orlando.

Last month it was reported that Scott had a $135,000 stake in
Schlumberger Ltd, a firm with ties to acid fracking near the
Everglades and fresh water aquifers in Collier County.

With Florida ranked in the top ten most polluted states, protestors
will demand that Rick Scott expand renewable energy, which creates
jobs, rather than allow his corporate friends to destroy Florida’s
water and air for a quick profit.

Not only does Rick Scott have investments in the Natural Gas industry, he has personal ties to the Koch Brothers. Shortly after Scott returned from an Aspen Weekend at the Kochs with 11 other Tea Party Governors he canceled all of the State of Florida Renewable Energy Grants that were financed by Federal Funding. I have a patent for a new wind energy for Florida. The Solar Industry has been shutdown in the Sunshine State. This is a criminal conspiracy involving Governor Scott and the Kochs which is a RICO Act violation. Where are the Federal Prosecutors?